NHL: Kings, Ducks still find value in draft

The Kings have 10 selections in today's NHL draft, but none in the first round.

The Ducks have five picks, but their first-round selection isn't until No. 26 overall.

It might seem as if the draft is no big deal for the Kings and Ducks, but the reality is nothing could be further from the truth. Today is the day all 30 teams in the NHL, even the successful ones like the Kings and Ducks, re-stock their prospect lists and hope for better days.

In 2003, for example, the Ducks were coming off their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final. They lost in seven grueling games to the deeper and more polished New Jersey Devils, and there were plenty of reasons to believe their days as a struggling expansion franchise were history.

In fact, their future was about to get a whole lot brighter.

Ten years ago this month, the Ducks took center Ryan Getzlaf of the Calgary Hitman of the Western Hockey League with the 19th overall selection and then picked right wing Corey Perry of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League at No. 28.

At the time, they were two names on a long list of 18-year-old prospects from around the hockey-playing world. Soon enough, they became Stanley Cup champions, Olympic champions and pillars of a franchise that had the third-best regular-season record in the NHL in 2012-13.

Each player signed an eight-year contract extension with the Ducks last season.

Even if the Kings' roster appears all but set for the next few seasons after consecutive trips to the Western Conference finals and the franchise's first Stanley Cup title in 2012, today is critical to the club's future success. After all, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.

Or so the theory goes.

It's the same for the Ducks, whose foundation appears to be as strong as the Kings. Both teams have improved over the years through trades and free-agent signings, and their rosters have been built from the ground up, with draft picks serving as cornerstones in each case.

For the Ducks, it's Getzlaf and Perry in '03 and left wing Bobby Ryan (first round, '05), who make up their top line. There's also defenseman Cam Fowler and right wing Emerson Etem (first round, '10) and outstanding goaltending prospect John Gibson (second round, '11).

Quick stands out as an example of the Kings' ability to unearth a gem beyond the first round. After all, he was the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs after leading the Kings' unexpected march to the Stanley Cup championship.

The Ducks have had success in the later rounds, too. Left wing Matt Beleskey was a fourth-round selection in 2006. Going back a decade earlier Matt Cullen, a center who played last season with the Minnesota Wild, was a second-round pick in 1996.